Random Game O' the Day: Super Mario 2

[digitalpress]

Day 3.

I don't know many people who missed this game. You certainly had an excuse for Earnest Evans and maybe for Virtua Cop, but EVERYONE knows Mario, and in some way, shape, or form, you must have played this US sequel to the gigantic hit original.

So what's your opinion? When you first played SMB2 were you put off by it's unusual gameplay (unusual compared to SMB) or did you embrace it? When is the last time you played it? What did you like about? Hate about it? Write us a mini-review in your own style.

DP GUIDE sez:

Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo NES, by Nintendo) $1/R1 +
This game was released in the U.S. as the first official sequel to Super Mario Bros, but over in Japan, they already HAD a sequel (which is much more like the original SMB). This U.S. sequel is actually a game called "Doki Doki Panic" with sprites changed to Mario characters (although the game was actually developed by the original SMB team). Released 9/88. PERIODICALS: Listed as one of the "99 Favorite Classics" by Digital Press in 1997. c1988 Nintendo. #NES-MW-USA.

[MankeyMan]

You got to play as a Toad, which was the best thing ever. Apart from that, it was the worst Mario game they made. That said, it was still pretty good.

[Bratwurst]

I actually hated Super Mario Brothers 1, when I tried it out at my cousin's house. Up to that point I had been used to the joystick of an Atari, the D-pad hurt my thumbs.

A couple years later I was at an arcade trying out a Playchoice machine and Mario 2 was among them, already running. After reaching Birdo and subsequently dying, I knew I had to have this game. It was my first NES game and at the same time my first Nintendo console, purchased with my own allowance savings at a Target store in Louisiana visiting relatives.

It's my favorite Mario.

[Raedon]

I remember back in the day, as those 30 somethings say, mowing lawns and raking leaves to get together enough money for SMB 2. The original SMB was pure gold to me. I was so good I could do all the tricks, I had wow'ed my friends with the -1 world but that was long ago (for a teen.)
The day came and to Target I went. There were kids all over the NES section as usual, ooggling the boxes that now were protected from sticky fingers by glass doors. I got some help, got the game while the poor (IE lazy)kids watched. The game was mine! Finally!

SMB 2 was one of the first games I antisipated long before it was released. Reading Nintendo mag's and seeing screen shots months in advance. It was also the first sequel game I ever purchased.



Oh I liked the game to. Different was better for me personally.

[Mr. NEStalgia]

I remember my sister getting it for Christmas one year...that was a great game (ripped off or not). My sister was a lot better at it than me, but I loved to watch her play it. My grandma got really into it to :-D .

I personally liked it a lot more than my SMB/DH cart.

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[buttasuperb]

Great game, but still the worst in the series.

Very challenging game too, I've finished Mario 1 and 3 several times, even on one life, but I've never finished Mario 2.

Maybe I should do that soon.

[IntvGene]

I really liked this one, mainly because I loved the colors and the look of the game. The game was so bright and vibrant. I hated how SMB (and SMB3) look so drab and washed out.

I also loved the character select. It added so much more to the game. In the others, you can choose to be Mario or Luigi (Green Mario). Thanks Nintendo. Many may say that this was the worst in the series, but not me. I think it is the best out of the 8-bit ones.

Great music too!

[Quintracker]

SMB2 was my favorite of the SMB series. I actually liked how different it was. The music was great, choosing your character was a nice addition (Toad rules all), and the graphics were much better than the first one. I played this game so much I could beat it without losing a life or warping. :D

[CrazyImpmon]

I got this game when they came out as a gift. I was quite impressed by the graphics and the huge size of the world compared to the original SMB. It never occured to me it was quite different from the original SMB and I never knew it wasn't even the official sequel until some years later when it was mentioned in Nintendo Power magazine.

I still like to play it. I usually go World 1-1 to 3, use a warp to 5, then another warp to 7 and finish it there. (I hate world 4 and 6) I found Princess seems the easiest to use for most of the worlds because of her long jumping ability.

[Eternal Champion]

Ah, 2. I was in 8th grade. The first issue of Nintendo Power, I seem to remember...which also had Zelda's 2nd Quest completely mapped. I love 2--I have Super Mario All-Stars and really love that, but hate how they made the slot-machine have a delay.
I think I liked it more than 1--although I never actually owned either! I remember 2 being expensive...and my allowance was from mowing lawns, so I didn't have many NES games. I'll never forget the heartpounding I got when I got to the crab...holy crap!
My wife was really into it as a kid and were addicted to All-Stars--wow that was a while ago too...
All-Stars really needs to be on GBA if it isn't already...

[gamergary]

I loved to play this game on my SMB All Stars cart but i sucked at it but now i try to play it everytime my snes is hooked up. (I don't have any mario game on the nes for some reason just a famicom game {smb3} but that doesn't fit into my converter)

[Kid Fenris]

Super Mario Bros. 2 always seemed to be the game that the other kids at my school would offer when they wanted to borrow something from me, so I wound up playing it a lot without ever having a copy of my own. With its dreamlike atmosphere and strange enemies (the Shyguys always creeped me out as a child; what were they hiding with those masks?), SMB 2 is probably the weirdest of the pack, but I still think it's an excellent game. In fact, I was disappointed when SMB3 didn't let you play as Toad or the Princess.

Edit: Remember Birdo, the pink boss who thought he was a girl and spat eggs? Someone recently pointed out that Birdo, like everything else in SMB2, was just part of Mario's dream, which implies that Mario was really the one with a latent desire to be a woman.

[asharru]

Heh, finally a title I've played enuff to comment on...

Being but 15 and very clueless as to the fact that it wasn't the true sequel, I was quite impressed when I first played it. I thought the grafix were much better, and there was much more that you could do with mario. Now, I liked 3 quite a bit more, but I have no grips about 2.

[Chunky]

by far one of my top 5 games for the NES. Got back into it on the GBA and i still love it. why can't they make a 2D game anything like this anymore. Much better than the real SMB 2, and a nice change of pace.

[Retsudo]

Funny that you bring this game up. i was just playing this game last night. Yes i do like it. I have the mario allstars cart. The nes version was the third game I ever bought in my life.

[Nature Boy]

Does a Mario game by another name play as sweet? Definitely.

[scooterb23]

This is my least favorite Mario game, BY FAR. I never liked it originally, and I still hate it to this day. I just felt it was too far away from Mario 1, I loved the original SMB, and then playing this one, I felt cheated. I always felt like I was playing some other game with Mario just slapped in...now I know I was correct. Very disappointing game.

[DDCecil]

I remember the day I rented it for the first time. I fell in love with it instantly, and for a few years, it was my most favorite game (Until Dragon Warrior 2 came along.) I got it for Xmas of 1989.

[Daniel Thomas]

I'll tell ya, Super Mario 2 was a really cool game back in its time. I enjoyed the change of gameplay style from the original, I liked the ability to play different characters, and I liked the return of the POW block.

Yes, I would say this was the weakest Mario game, but that's like naming the worst Beatles album -- it's still better than most of the competition.

The best part of Super Mario 2 was, of course, the ending. That was just f'n brilliant.

[Britboy]

I hated the princess the most, and yet played her the most because her long-fly power was the best.

[YoshiM]

All right! Something I can comment on!

I definitely embraced this game. The graphics for its time were great, animation was smooth, and it was very inventive even if it's not a "true" sequel. The ability to switch characters was great as you had different powers at your disposal and offered some replayability as you can go at it with a different character each time. I played this one to death until I beat it (via warps).

In retrospect it was probably my favorite of the NES Mario games.

[Kid Ice]

Never liked SMB2. To me it's not even a real Mario game. Not that I feel really passionate about it or anything. I just never felt it was worth getting into.

the kid

[NE146]

I had read in EGM that Super Mario 2 wasn't the "real" Super Mario 2, but that being said I liked a whole lot. When I went back home that summer (I was in college) I managed to pick up the "real" Famicom Super Mario 2 which I played with an adapter and it was HARD (as we all know now). So I didn't enjoy it as much. Plus it just seemed to much like the original. Of course later on in life I picked up Super Mario All-Stars and that had them all.

I never had the opportunity to play Doki Doki Panic until very recently (maybe 3 months ago). I learned that the Dreamcast emulator played Famicom Disk System games so I went on a quest for all of them.. then found them, then tried them out on the Dreamcast. :) Doki Doki Panic is actually pretty enjoyable! If I was to play Super Mario 2 all the way through again, I'd probably play Doki Doki just to try it at a different angle.

[Ruudos]

Very good game, it's really fun to play.
Although I think it's an easy game. IMO the other NES Mario games are harder.